Best care anywhere

Having had a week off thanks to Michael last week, I have plenty of E-mail material. This being the case, I planned to tell you this week about my trip to ‘The Reasonably Sized Apple’ also known as New York, and all about the Boy Scout Camp that I work at – Ockanickon (I spelt that off of my name badge by the way, I would probably have spelt it with a V and 2 T’s).

However, something else pretty big has come up this week, so I will try and cram it all in, and we’ll see where we can get.

Last Saturday my sponsor ‘dad’ Bill took me to see New York. I must say that it is an incredible city. The buildings are so large, almost to the point of being unbelievable, and bizarrely, the Statue of Liberty was shorter than I had expected. Obviously, NYC is nowhere near as spectacular as the sunny shores of Sussex, but there you are.

Me and my friend Bill Vincent on the Stattan islan Ferry, with Manhatten in the background.

A big point of interest was ground zero, the site of the former buildings that made up much of the World Trade Centre, and The Twin Towers. There are still burn marks on some of the surrounding buildings, and the site is still being cleared nearly 6 years after the disaster. It really is a site to see. Especially when you imagine the towering structures that had been there previously.

A gaping hole in the middle of New York City: Ground Zero.

Whilst in New York, we had Chinese. But not just any Chinese. This was the best sample of Chinese cuisine that I have ever tried. Just unbelievably good. On the subway trip home, I was surprised that the New York State Transport Department had made an significant extension to their subway system. I’m sure everyone around me thought I was made when I took this photo.A major extension has been added to the New York Subway, you can now get all the way bto Brighton.

But onto the main event. The whole reason for me coming to America: Ockanickon Scout Reservation. I had several pre-conceptions of what the campsite might be like (as I had with the whole of the US in fact). I had expected the campsite to feel alien to me, and for everything to be a bit strange. And although some aspects of the sight are odd, bizarrely, the place kind of feels like home.

The thing that I still can’t get my head around is the equipment the scout camp uses. Although I know that the gear itself is not that old, the design dates back to WWI. In fact, some of the beds in the lodges are WWII surplus! Either way, sleeping in their big heavy canvass tent felt like being in an episode of M*A*S*H*. This is an observation that will come back and bite me on the ass.

At the campsite, I have two main jobs: Assistant Sailing Director (although the director is severely under qualified, I’ve had to bail him out several times this week. I may use them next week), and I am also on the Rock Climbing staff. Because of the laws of magic, the lake that we sail on only gets wind in the afternoons during the summer, so I go to the climbing department on the afternoons.The SS Corpulent Porpoise, the 22ft boat that I am chief of the boat of.

The SS Corpulent Porpoise as we have called her is a bit of a bath tub. Don’t get me wrong, she sails beautifully, I but these Boy Scouts have no idea how to look after nautical equipment. This boat has been abused and mistreated, and really needed some TLC when I arrived. We have had some great fun with her though.

I have two stories about the boat. Firstly, Thursday we were practicing man overboard drills. Back in the UK, I have always tied a Life Jacket (or PFD [Personal Floatation Device] as the crazy Yanks call them) to a bucket. So this we did. The first Scout goes to save ‘Bob’, and then runs straight over him (by accident), almost exactly in the middle, between the bucket and the Life Jacket.

This resulted in the whole man overboard dummy getting dragged underneath, and along the keel, to end up wrapped around the centre board. This further resulted in the boat being almost completely un-sailable. In short, you could sail down wind, but not up it. Of course the wind was coming from the marina over half a mile away. Most people would just switch a motor on at this point, but unfortunately the Corpulent Porpoise isn’t fitted with one. So the kids paddled the 22ft sloop the half mile back to the marina against the wind. They were tired after that, and sadly there weren’t enough paddles for the instructors to paddle…

Second amusing story happened Friday, after we had finished repairing the boat. We had loads of wind that morning, so we were screaming along the lake. As we were thundering along, we noticed a very attractive young lady in a rowing boat, wearing a green bikini. Please bear in mind that the BSA (Boy Scouts of America) don’t have girls in it, and so the majority of instructors tend to be blokes. I had, in fact, almost forgotten what a woman looked like.

So naturally all of the crew on the boat are male, and were gawping at her. I was standing at the back of the boat with the main sheet in my hands (that’s the rope that pulls the big sail in and out). She realised that 6 blokes were just staring at her, whilst they shot past on a yacht. She waived at us awkwardly, so naturally, being the only gentleman on board (and the only Briton, see the link…) I waved back.

Having looked really cool up until this point, I was a little shocked when I felt the main sheet (rope) get harder. No, there’s no innuendo there. I turned around to see my crewmates all letching, and slowly turning the boat. At the point, the wind caught the sail (as the boat was turning), and most people fell off their feet, and right across the boat. The helmsman lost all his senses, and performed a sharp turn, and for all intents and purposes, we were in chaos. How those sirens of the sea effect us guys.

Unfortunatly, because this is a Boy Scout of America site, I have to wear Boy Scout uniform, as does every other member of staff. Oh my goodness, I have never seen so many knobbly knees in all my life. I try to avoid wearing it, but I have to wear it at least every day, so that I can salute the American flag (the other days I can wear my NTC uniform). So, by popular demand, here is a picture of me as a boy scout. Please bare in mind, I only wore those socks as a joke. I usually wear normal socks. Woohoo. A Scout uniform, don't I look cool...

Lastly, I rope this long post back to the title for this week. As I said earlier on, the camping reminds me of the TV Show M*A*S*H*. Even the beds (or cots) that we sleep in. But as I said, that came back to bite me on the backside. This was our first week of activities (last week was all set up), and somehow, a virus was brought onto the site. Tests were done, and we know it was not food or the water supply. It’s basically a cruise ship virus (people being sick, and er… emptying the bowels). As I have sat here and wrote this, I know that the camp manager has had a meeting with the department of health, and they have taken samples.

But I digress. As yet, don’t worry mum, I’m okay. Tuesday night we evacuated the campsites, and stayed in buildings for a few hours whilst a thunder storm went through. Almost straight after that, loads of people went to the Health Officer. The campsite has an impressive ‘Health Lodge’ which is like a small medical centre. They even have a ward to sleep ill people in. That night several people were sent home, or in severe cases to hospital!

After Tuesday night, there were a few isolated cases, but we thought we had taken enough measures to stop it. Well we thought wrong. On Thursday night, I was Duty Officer (DO), and a second wave of sick people came through. In the midst of this, we had to evacuate a group that were wild camping for the night, because of another thunderstorm. Thursday night was far worse than Tuesday. We had so many sick people, that the Health Lodge was swamped. The emergency protocols were opened, which basically said, ‘ha ha, your on your own…’.

So thinking on their feet the staff set up 22 beds in a lodge close to the Health Lodge. But even that wasn’t enough. We had to cram ill people in there. At the moment, the current total of ill people (some have recovered, some are still in beds, some have gone home, and some are in hospital) stands at around 70 (including, Scouts, Adults and Staff). It’s an incredible site. I don’t know many places could do that. And now it really was like a scene from M*A*S*H*.

As I said, I was DO, so I helped out as much as I could. I couldn’t do anything on the medical front, but I did check in with troops, and keep the medical staff, and helpers fed and watered (with very strong coffee). I was up to 3am doing this.

The virus is spread through bodily fluids (mainly sweat), but also becomes airborne through vomit fumes. Well, I was around a lot of ill people last night, and the medical officer looked at me when I got back from sailing, and told me to go rest (hence how I got the time to write this). Well, in my usual fashion, sheer bloody mindedness will keep me well. I will not be ill.

Once again, I hope all is well in Blighty, and keep in touch.

If you have had some rain the week, why not leave a comment, starting your message with ‘I live in Britain’.

If you have not had some rain this week, why not leave a longer comment, be smarmy, starting with ‘I live in neither Britain, or Okanickon Scout Camp’.

Quote of the Week: ‘There are more ways to kill a dog than to choke it with butter’. Apparently, it is a Chinese proverb (we were looking for them on the ‘net to put in the camp newsletter), but if you can work out what it means, please tell me. Or if you can just work out why someone may wish to kill a dog, by choking it with butter, I would be fascinated.